The Hunter New England district recorded 289 notifiable influenza cases in the week to August 5, a fall of 37 per cent in a month.
The latest NSW Health data also showed there were 118 RSV cases and 177 COVID cases in that week, representing declines of 30 per cent and 56 per cent in a month respectively.
The figures were published in the NSW Respiratory Surveillance Report on Thursday.
They refer only to notification data obtained from positive PCR laboratory tests for infections.
"Emergency department (ED) presentations and subsequent admissions for influenza-like illness and bronchiolitis were stable [across NSW]," the report said.
"There was a decline in the proportion of ED presentations for COVID-19 requiring admission."
Newcastle respiratory specialist Peter Wark said "winter is not over yet".
But he said the flu season "perhaps is not going to be quite what it was last year".
"Maybe that reflects the somewhat lesser impact COVID has had this year, compared to last year.
"We've certainly had quite a bit of influenza activity. That was early on and hopefully that's been and gone. There was a bit of RSV. It wasn't an exceptionally bad year, though.
"Flu-like illnesses and pneumonia are a feature every year of what you see in the public health system when the weather gets colder."
Professor Wark said some groups were "a little more susceptible, certainly children with flu B".
He said rises in pneumonia cases "usually go hand-in-hand" with rises in flu and flu-like illnesses.
"The organisms that cause influenza and COVID cause pneumonia."
NSW Health data also showed almost 50 cases of "invasive pneumococcal infection" had been notified in the Hunter New England Health district this year to date.
The district recorded 90 notifiable cases last year, 62 in 2021, 45 in 2020 and 108 in 2019. The highest number in the past 20 years was 127 cases in 2004.
Invasive pneumococcal disease commonly presents as septicaemia, meningitis and pneumonia. Septicaemia and meningitis are more common in children, while pneumonia is more frequent in adults. It can also cause otitis media (infection of the middle ear).
Pneumococcal disease is caused by infection with the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae.
Pneumonia, though, is a common and potentially fatal lung infection that can be caused by viruses, bacteria or fungi.
NSW Health data shows Hunter New England recorded 80 to 190 influenza and pneumonia-related deaths each year over the past 20 years. The median age of influenza-associated deaths in Australia last year was 82.
Meanwhile, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) last week welcomed the Queensland government's decision to make the meningococcal B vaccine free for all infants and children under two and adolescents aged 15 to 19.
The NSW government has not moved to match Queensland's decision, raising community concern due to the cost of the vaccine.
RACGP president Dr Nicole Higgins said the meningococcal B strain required an additional immunisation for children of normal risk at a cost of about "$200 to 300 for the required two doses".
"Meningococcal B must be taken seriously. This is a rare but terrible disease that without urgent care can result in death or disability," she said.
"Between 1997 and 2016, it is estimated that 396 people died from meningococcal disease and 32 per cent of those deaths happened to children aged less than five."
